A man fired a gun into the ground outside his house Friday evening to scare away a group of people who rammed his car on the Canal Route then followed him home and assaulted him, police say.

The man, 22, received minor injuries in the incident, police Sgt. Ron Hunt said Saturday. The man said he was driving on I-135 about 6:15 p.m. Friday when a 1990s red four-door Ford was driving erratically, rammed the rear of his vehicle and almost ran him off the road, Hunt said. When the man headed home to the 4200 block of East Whitney, southwest of Pawnee and Oliver, the car followed him, he said.

Three men and three women then got out of the car, there was a confrontation, and the man was assaulted, Hunt said the man reported. So he went into the house and brought out a firearm, which he fired into the ground, Hunt said. The three men started to leave, but the three women remained, taunting the man to shoot them, Hunt said the man reported. The man then fired the gun into the ground a second time, and the women left, Hunt said.

The man’s injuries weren’t serious, and he apparently did not know the suspects, Hunt said.